HENDERSON, NV (FOX5) -
The fears of everyone involved in the search for 17-year-old William Mootz were realized Friday after the Henderson teen's body was found entangled in a group of trees and bushes.
An off-duty police officer and private citizens made the discovery at around 10:30 a.m. - just shy of 48 hours after Mootz fell into a flooded Pittman Wash.
"The group that found him were close friends of the family - kids that grew up with him," said Charlie Mootz, the boy's father.
The search efforts brought out hundreds of volunteers, including many who never knew the Green Valley High School senior.
"We had over 600 people come out here and help the last two days. Unfortunately it didn't turn out the way anybody wanted it to," Charlie Mootz said.
One of the largest groups involved with the search was Freeman Company, a convention supplier where William Mootz's mother, Dolores, works as a supervisor.
"She would do anything for us, and this is the least we could do for her," said Ellen Miller, who has worked with William Mootz's mother for the past seven years.
Miller helped coordinate around 100 workers to offer their time over the past two days. She also participated in the search herself.
"They just had mud up to their knees - water up to their chests," she described.
"Basically, everybody wanted to pitch in and help out," said Steven Hagstette, senior vice president of Freeman, who added that workers were even paid to take the day off so they could help out.
Volunteers amped up their efforts after Henderson authorities and Metro police announced Thursday that they would suspend the search until Monday.
"Our intent was to let that water recede - allow it to dry up so we could do a good thorough search," said Henderson Deputy Fire Chief Jeff Lytle.
Hagstette's employees, and those from various local groups and organizations, including the Boy Scouts, did not want to delay the search any longer.
"The idea of waiting three days to find a body when you don't know for sure if [he's] alive... I couldn't live with that and I know [Dolores] couldn't," Hagstette said.
Authorities continued the search anyway Friday morning, with the help of two search and rescue dogs from Nevada Task Force 1, and Metro police.
"As you can imagine, losing a child in this environment... we would all be out here and that's why we're here," Lytle said.
The Mootz family thanked Freeman and other volunteers for bringing supplies, donations, and water.
"The community's been amazing and we couldn't appreciate it more," said Mootz's sister Christina.
Copyright 2012 KVVU (KVVU Broadcasting Corporation). All rights reserved.
A map shows where Mootz's body was found Friday morning, in a wetlands area near Sam Boyd Stadium
